ASRock P43DE3 w/ F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ - system instability

[pwright]

System Specs:
Motherboard - ASRock P43DE3
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Memory - F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ (2 kits @ 8 GB total)
OS - Windows 7 64-bit SP1
PSU - 850 W

Current Memory/Voltage Settings:

DRAM Frequency: 666 mhz
FSBRAM: 1:2
CL: 9.0
tRCD: 9
tRP: 9
tRAS: 24 clocks
tRFC: 74 clocks
CR: 2T
DRAM Voltage (with default settings): 1.67

CPU Core Voltage: 1.256V
Bus Speed: 333 MHz
Rated FSB: 1333 MHz


I've had an ongoing issue for the past couple of years. I've approached G.Skill's support via email and gotten extremely great responses but the problem still exists. I'm hoping by posting this on the boards that another user may have come across these issues and have a bit of insight. Essentially, my system's stability is quite random within Windows while running with 8 GB of memory. I'll get occasional oddball errors (printers disappearing, memory errors, etc.) which eventually will lead to a blue screen. I've had this happen with 3 different operating systems:

Windows XP 32-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Windows 7 64-bit

If I remove 2 modules from my system, dropping the total memory down to 4 GB, I never, ever have issues at all. It doesn't matter which 2 modules--the issues never happen until I install a total of 4 modules.

The instability is almost immediately apparent after turning the computer on. If I reboot the system 2-3 times, eventually it will become stable and run for days without a single issue. I've even gotten everything stable after a few reboots and been able to run Prime95 over a 48 hour period non-stop with no errors. As soon as I power it completely off, then power it back on, I have a random chance of the instability issues occurring.

Prior to the ASRock motherboard, I experienced the same issues with an ASUS P5Q3 motherboard (two of them, I RMA'ed my first one thinking that the motherboard was the issue). I've also gone through 2 power supplies thinking that the old one was possibly faulty. So far the only things I haven't outright replaced with brand new parts has been the CPU and case. I've determined through my testing that the current modules are good, seeing as how they work just fine in a completely different machine and never cause crashes there.

I've tried adjusting the settings within my BIOS, but the system becomes extremely unstable when I set anything manually. So far I've only adjusted them as instructed by G.Skill support, so I'm not just setting things randomly. I've had a couple of the pairs of memory I originally ordered RMA'ed through G.Skill previously but the issue still persists.

Now, here's the oddball part of this scenario--my wife's machine is a similar build, with ASUS P5Q3 motherboard, similar power supply, same processor and operating system (currently Windows 7 64-bit SP1). I can use any combination of the modules I have in her system and have absolutely 0 issues.

I've updated my motherboard BIOS to the absolute latest available, but this problem still exists. Honestly all I want is a stable system with all 8 GB of memory installed at this point. Has anyone else experienced similar issues and found a way to fix the issue? I have a strong feeling this has something to do with voltage settings but it seems like the best case scenario comes when I leave everything to default or simply stay at 4 GB of memory.

[pwright]

A few more tests that I've done after the initial posting:

Manually set the following in BIOS (following an email from a while back from G.Skill Support):

DRAM Freq: 800 mHZ DDR3_1600
CPU Freq: 400
FSB to MCH: 1600

The following were default voltages with the above changes:

DRAM Voltage: 1.561 V
Vcore: 1.288 V
CPU Voltage: 1.813 V
GTLRef Volt: 0.63 Vtt
NB Voltage: 1.15 V
NB GTL Ref Voltage: Low
SB Core Volt: Low
SB 1.1 V Voltage: 1.11 V
VTT Voltage: 1.21 V
PLL Voltage: 1.50 V

With all of the above, the system powers on with fans full on but no display ever appears.

Powering off and back on, I get memory diagnostic beeps

Powering off and back on after that, I either get memory diagnostic beeps OR fans spinning high but no display.

If I take out all memory but 2 modules (doesn't matter which two, I have a total of 6 matching modules to choose from), the system boots successfully but is unstable until I set everything back to default.

Exactly once, using the above configuration, I was able to get everything to boot successfully but as soon as I shut down I had to remove two of the modules to get the system to boot again.

Setting everything back to default with 8 GB installed still gives random system instability/blue screens within Windows (though the system does boot up every time with no issues this way).

[Tradesman]

Just had my own issues with one of those mobos, think you'll need about 1.58 on the DRAM and the NB around 1.25, vCore 1.3 to 1.31............I gave up on it and sent it back.....and as you may have guessed, the ASRock 'techies' are worthless, they have no clue about DRAM, let alone their own products. Their mobos are generally ok, I've built on a number of them, but some suck and don't expect any help from them they just don't care.

[pwright]

I'll give those settings a try and see if I can get everything stable again. I was having the same issues with my previous board (ASUS P5Q3) so I haven't attributed these issues to this new board so far. Ideally I would like to get this memory running at it's listed specs, but in lieu of that stability is also nice.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Tradesman]

Let us know on the testing results, I'll be in and out all weekend